The present invention pertains to the design of a steering tie rod for motor vehicles with a securing member acting in the longitudinal direction of the steering tie rod, whose length is limited when a defined axially acting load value is exceeded. The securing member has a tubular outer part and an inner part coaxially engaging with the outer part, the two parts engage with each other with radially directed deformations and limit the axial movement relative to one another.
Steering tie rods represent an essential component for the safety of the vehicle. On the other hand, the high requirements in terms of safety contrast with the requirement for the lowest possible weight of the steering tie rod. It is known that a certain buckling stability during the transmission of pressing forces is determined in advance, so that the steering tie rod or a component of the steering tie rod acts as a protective release member and buckles when a predetermined pressure load is exceeded, thus protecting other, substantially more expensive components from damage. In such a case of buckling, e.g., in case of collisions with another vehicle, traffic installations, structures, etc., the motor vehicle is no longer fit for use. It was suggested in West German Patent No. DE-PS 3827854, that for protection against overloads in the axial direction of pull, the steering tie rod should consist of a tube and a rod engaged with one end of this tube, which rod has a predetermined breaking point between its holder in the tube and the end of the tube and a projection between this predetermined breaking point and the tube end. The tube is provided between the projection and the tube end with a narrowed section which forms a stop during the breaking of the predetermined breaking point. In this arrangement, the predetermined breaking point leads to a limited elongation of the steering tie rod when the predetermined overload value in the direction of pull is exceeded, as a result of which the driving behavior of the vehicle is markedly altered. This predetermined breaking point is ineffective in a pressure direction.